Journal box lid



H. O. NEKOLA JOURNAL BOX LID Dec. 5, 1933.

Filed Jan. 25 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l i] z arry 0. J /f'o/a Mom H.O.NEKOLA JOURNAL BOX LID Dec. 5, 1933.

Filed Jan. 26, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 5, 1933. H. O NEKOLA 1,938,398

JOURNAL BOX LID Filed Jan. 26, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Dec. 5, 1933 JOURNAL BOX LID UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE 10 Claims.

My invention relates to lids for journal boxes which permit access to the journal and the lubricating chamber and provide a tight closure so as to prevent the entry of foreign substances into the interior of the box and the leakage of lubricating material from within the box. My invention in particular is directed to a two-part lid construction in which one part acts as the closure and the other as the operating mechanism for opening and closing the box and for holding the lid, when closed, tightly against the edges of the box all of the way around the box opening.

My improved lid can be readily assembled, but when assembled the closure and housing are held securely together so that it may be shipped as a unit and is easy of application to, or removal from, a journal box. While it is extremely light, it is compactly and simply made and is capable of withstanding very rugged service.

Lids embodying my invention are particularly adapted for application to journal boxes having standard American Railway Association journal box lugs.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the detailed description of the illustrative embodiment thereof which is now to be described.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a journal box having my improved lid applied thereto in closed position; Fig; 2 is a section on lines II-II of Fig. 1, showing also in dotted lines the lid in open position; Fig. 3 is a plan of the operating lever; Fig. 4 is a section of the closure portion of the lid; and Fig. 5 is a partial rear view of the closure as viewed from the right of Fig. 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the journal box A has the usual hinge lug 2 and mouth opening 3. The hinge lug 2 has a horizontal aperture 4 therethrough for the hinge pin 5, by which the lid B is pivotally supported. The hinge lug 2 is provided with a substantial vertical face 6 and a cooperating nearly horizontal face 7, and the two faces 6 and 7 converge in a nose 8.

The mouth opening of the box A is defined by a flat surface or lip 9 of rectangular outline against which the corresponding surface 10 on the closure portion 11 of the lid 13 is adapted to hear. The closure 11 has upwardly extending projections 12 having elongated apertures l2 therein, by which it engages, and is supported from the pivot pin 5. The body of the closure 11 is shaped somewhat like a pocket and has on the outer face of its inner wall 13 a central depression 14 for the reception of a spring 15 which seats upon a spring bearing member 16 having a spherical face bearing in the bottom of the depression 14 in the closure 11.

The housing 17 which forms part of and encloses other operating parts of the lid is also pivoted on the hinge pin 5 and has a downward extension 18 terminating in a boss 19 having a convex surface which seats in a concave recess 20 in the inner surface of the outer wall 21 of the lid pocket. The housing 17 at its upper end has extending rearwardly therefrom hub-like projections 22 having in one of their outer walls 22 an opening 23 of sufiicient diameter for insertion of the hinge pin 5. The spaces 24 within the projections 22 are sufficiently elongated so that after the hinge pin 5 has been inserted through the opening 23 and the housing has been shifted as will be later described, it is impossible for the hinge pin to work out of the device.

A lever 25 is pivotally supported on its trunnions 26 which bear in seats 27 on the inner face of the housing 17. The lower end 28 of the lever 25 bears against the outer end of the spring 15. The lever 25 has an inwardly ex tending wall 29 which acts as a reinforcement for the lever and also holds the spring 15 in centered engagement with the lever end 28. The upper end 30 of the lever 25 has a flat extended surface intended to bear in alternation on the surfaces 6 or 7 on the hinge lug 2.

The lid is assembled by placing the spring 15 on the spring bearing member or equalizer 16 in the bottom of the depression 14 in the closure 11. The end 28 of the lever 25 is then seated on top of the spring. The housing 17 is then placed so its convex lower end 19 lies slightly above and entirely out of engagement withthe receiving recess 20. A slight pressure is then applied to the housing so as to cause it to bear on the lever and compress the spring;

at the same time the housing is slid toward the recess 29. The upper edge of the wall 21 of the pocket is rounded at 21 (Figs. 2 and 4) to assist in this sliding movement. As the housing is moved downwardly, the spring is further compressed until the portion of the housing 19 enters the recess 20 of the pocket. During this movement of the housing the bearings 27 on the inside of the housing come into engagement with the trunnions 26 on the lever 25. In assembling the parts as just described it will be seen that only one movement is involved, that is, sliding of the housing 17 inwardly toward the lid and downwardly toward the bottom part of the lid.

As the upper edge 31 of the closure 11 is brought into bearing with the portion 32 of the housing it will thus be seen that when once assembled the closure and housing are held securely in operative relation without the necessity of other retaining means when the lid is shipped.

To apply the assembled lid to a journal box a bar or tool 33 indicated'in dotted lines in Fig. 2 may be inserted through the opening 34 in the bottom of the closure pocket between the boss 19 of the housing and the end 28 of the lever to compress the spring 15 and thus cause the upper end 30 of the lever to rotate about its trunnions in a counter clockwise direction and be brought nearer the housing wall 35 With the parts in such position the aperture 4 in the hinge lug and the openings 23 in the housing projections 22 may be brought into alignment and the hinge pin 5 inserted therethrough and beneath the projections 12 on the closure 11. When the bar or tool 33 is withdrawn the spring 15 will cause the lever 25 to rotate in a clockwise direction so that its upper end will engage the hinge lug and force the housing 17 forwardly, thus moving the portion of the housing containing the openings 23 relative to the hinge pin, so that the walls 22 of the housing adjacent the openings 23 will limit the enwise movement of the hinge pin and prevent its removal.

When the lid is closed, as is shown in the full line position of Fig. 2, the spring 15 is Luider compression and tends to rotate the lever 25 in a clockwise direction. As the rotation of the lever, however, is resisted at its opposite end by the surface 6 on the hinge lug 5, the action of the spring, which is located centrally with reference to the mouth of the box, is to press the closure uniformly and tightly against the face 9 of the box. Since the spring bearing member 16 is spherical and seats in the bottom of the depression in the center of the closure, it is obvious that the spring 15 will always transmit its pressures through the member 16 to the center of the closure and hence hold the closure shut tightly at all times when the lid is closed.

It will be seemalso, that outward pressure of the housing 17 is resisted by the hinge pin 5. Since the ball and socket connection between the boss 19 of the housing and the recess 20 of the lid pocket is positioned directly upon the axis of the spring, there is obviously no lever arm action tending to open the lid.

The lid is opened by pulling on the portion 35 of the closure, and as the lid opens the upper end 30 of the lever slides up the hinge lug surface 6 and passes over the nose or rounded portion 8 of the hinge lug. The force of the spring 15 is applied to continue the opening movement to the dotted line position of Fig. 2, and when in such position the force of the spring applied through the lever tends to hold the lid open.

In closing the lid, pressure is applied on the portion 36 of the closure, and as the outer wall 21 of the closure pocket bears on the boss 19 of the housing such pressure thus forces the housing and the closure to move as a unit into closed position.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of descriptions and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the 7 use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any mechanical equivalents of the features shown and described, or portions thereof, but recognize that various structural modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a journal box having an access opening thereinto, a closure for the opening, a hooded member for pivotally attaching said closure to the box, means including a coil spring maintained at all times in the transverse axis of the closure for applying a yielding force at substantially the center or" said closure to hold it against said box, and inter-engaging means comprising integral portions of said closure and said member held by said spring in inter-locked relation to maintain the assembly of the parts at all times.

2. In a device ofthe character described, a journal box having an access opening thereinto, a closure for the opening, means for pivotally attaching the closure to the box, a coil spring, the closure having a seat for the spring in the form of an arc-shaped depression in the center of the closure, a lever bearing at one end against the spring and at the other end against the box,

and means having bearings on the closure and the box forming a pivotal bearing for the lever,

the spring having a tilting bearing in its seat at all times for applying a yielding pressure against the center of the closure.

3. in a device of the class described, a journal box having an access opening thereinto, a closure for the opening carried for pivotal movement with respect to the box, operative means for the closure including a lever, a coil spring engaging the lever and the closure, and a member upon which the lever is mounted having a pivotal engagement with the closure and movable therewith in opening and closing, and said member and closure having interengaging means comprising a projection from said member on the inner side of said closure and being spaced from said pivotal engagement for limiting their relative pivotal movement.

4. In a device of the class described, a journal box having an access opening thereinto, a closure for the opening mounted for pivotal movement upon the box, operative means for the closure including a lever, a coil spring engaging the closure at its center, and a housing therefor, the housing being pivoted to the box and having a downward extension having a pivotal bearing on the closure, the lever at one end engaging the outer end of the spring and at the other end engaging the box and having an intermediate supporting pivotal bearing on the housing, one of said members being provided with an opening and a space being provided between said lever and the housing in alinement with said opening to permit insertion of an implement for relieving the pressure of the lever on the lug and to permit easy application and removal of said lid.

5. In a device of the character described, a journal box having an access opening thereinto, a closure for said opening, the closure being of pocket shape, a spring within the pocket bearing at one end in a wall of the pocket in the center of the access opening, a lever engaging at one of its ends one end of the spring and at the other of its ends the box, a housing pivoted to the box forming a base of reaction for the lever and having an ofiset extending toward said spring fitting into and having a bearing within the pocket, the outer surface of said pocket forming in effect a continuation of the outer wall of said housing, said housing being movable with the closure during its opening and closing movements and being also capable of movement relative thereto to permit the closure to seat firmly against surfaces of the box about the opening thereinto.

6. In a device of the character described, a journal box lid comprising a closure intended to seat against a journal box mouth, a housing, interengaging means on said closure and housing at a plurality of spaced points, the housing and closure enclosing between them a coil spring and lever, the spring acting at one end against an inner surface of the closure and at the other end against an end of the lever, the lever also having a base of resistance upon the housing, said interengaging means being arranged to provide for the interlocking of the housing and closure and the simultaneous assembly therewith of the spring and lever by a sliding movement of the housing longitudinally thereof.

'7. A journal box lid comprising a closure member, a housing member, a lever fulcrumed on said housing member and extending toward the central portion of said closure, a spring seating at one end against said closure and at its other end against said lever, said closure and housing having relatively movable interlocking portions adjacent the spring receiving portion of said lever, said spring being under compression in all assembled positions of said lid whereby when said lid is disengaged from said journal box said spring maintains said lever, closure and housing members in interlocked and assembled relationship, and means on one of said members for limiting the relative movement between said interlocking portions.

8. In a device of the class described a journal box having an access opening, a closure member therefor, means for urging said closure member against the mouth of said opening comprising a spring extending along the transverse axis of the closure member, a lever extending longitudinally of the closure member, and a housing member for said spring and lever inter-engaged with said closure member to retain the parts in assembled relation at all times, said lever normally preventing application of the assembly to the box, an accessible passage being provided between the lower end of said lever and the housing member, one of said members having an opening in alinement with said passage, said passage and opening being arranged to permit insertion of a device for rocking said lever out of such preventing position, the relation between said lever and housing member being such as to prevent disengagement of the pivot of the lever upon insertion of the device.

9. A journal box lid comprising a closure member and a hood member having spaced interlocking portions adjacent the center and periphery of said closure member, a coil spring reacting between said members and engaging said closure member to maintain said engagement at all times when the members are assembled, the interlocking portions of said members being constructed to permit relative bodily movement between said members during assembly, and said spring being arranged to permit angling about one end in the course of assembly whereby the parts may be assembled by such bodily relative movement of said members simultaneously with the compression of said spring.

10. A journal box lid comprising a closure member and a hood member having a flexible interlocked engagement, a coil spring reacting between said members to maintain said engagement at all times when the members are assembled, the interlocking portions of said members being constructed to permit relative longitudinal movement during assembly and said spring being arranged to permit angling about one end in the course of assembly, whereby the parts may be assembled by bodily movement of one of said members relative to the other simultaneously with the compression of said spring, one of said members having an opening adjacent an end of said spring for the reception of a tool to offset the pressure of said spring and enable easy removal of the lid from the box.

HARRY O. NEKOLA. 

